Giving Thanks

I can easily say that realizing it was Thanksgiving and I would be missing all the turkey and pumpkin pie and laughter and hikes and family time... That was the moment I missed home the most.

Getting a Facetime call and realizing all your family and more are gathered together and having a good time without you makes one, regrettably, jealous.

As if they should not be allowed to enjoy themselves and celebrate the holiday without you. How atrocious of them!

However Thanksgiving was also the moment I realized that you can truly make a family wherever you go!

My housemates and I decided that missing out on Thanksgiving was unallowable. It was even more despicable that certain members of our house had never celebrated a Thanksgiving before; being from countries that simply aren't as grateful as most of North America! We decided it was our duty to remedy this evil.

So we threw a Thanksgiving dinner to make all of the Netherlands jealous.

Everyone brought or prepared some food item, including two chickens (to replace the turkey) and even some homemade pumpkin pies with hand-whipped whip cream! I can confidently say I was more stuffed than either of our chickens by the end of that meal.

But better than being stuffed, I was happy. I was content.

Sure I still missed home, but the sting is taken off of the bite when you are surrounded by good food and even better company.

As per my family's traditions, we even went around the table and everyone shared something they were thankful for.

The majority of the answers?

Each other.

Surely one of the few things better than realizing you enjoy your present company is realizing they enjoy yours just as much.

At this point I have done a fair bit of traveling within the Netherlands (patience, I assure you this will tie in!). I have spent two weekends in Amsterdam, a few days in Rotterdam, been to the UNESCO World Heritage site of windmills, and many trips to the beach in Vlissingen. These trips have been absolutely terrific and I gain a little more perspective into Dutch culture with every different city I visit. However, the incidence that has impacted me the most is coming back from those trips.

Walking out of the train after a long weekend away; finding my bike among the rows and rows at the train station; hopping aboard that familiar seat and bumping over those recognizable cobblestones back to my little house on Domburgs Schuitvlot (no I have no idea how to pronounce that)... At first it felt like I was leaving one vacation and coming back to another one.

Now?

Now it finally feels like I'm coming home.

Middelburg finally feels, a bit, like home.

LOL - Lots Of Love

Briar